Page 106 of Bonded in Death

As Roarke drove, Eve sent the files to Reo.

“They’re going to get restless,” Roarke warned her.

“I can’t help that.” Then she scrubbed her hands over her face, into her hair. “I know that. I feel that, but they’ll have to suck it up. And I know if I don’t take Potter soon, it’s going to be a problem.”

“Let me handle that. You’ll just order or threaten.”

“You’ve got something better?”

“I do, yes. Guilt. Why would you add to the lieutenant’s work? Why would you fracture her focus when she needs her focus? Losing her focus could cause her to make a mistake, and be hurt. Why would you add to her worries, and to mine?”

“Jesus. That’s good. It’s mean in a twisted way that makes it meaner.”

“Passive-aggressive may not be an honorable choice, but it’ll work.” He glanced over. “I’ll handle them, my word on it.”

“All yours. And here’s my warrant. I’m going to check in with the surveillance team, and let them know we’re moving in. By the way, don’t draw the weapon you hooked on before we left the house unless there’s no choice.”

“Which weapon?”

Eve just closed her eyes a moment. “Any and all.”

She contacted the team on Chez Robert, then sat back, considered.

“Restaurant’s just closing. No single male went in or out since they’ve been on it. If I were going to break in to plant a bomb—or rig toxic gas—I’d wait a couple more hours. Give the neighborhood time to settle in for the night.”

“Or you move in directly so it looks as though you’re an employee who forgot something. Look harried instead of furtive. Go in, switch on thelights—nothing to hide here—plant the device, then leave the way you came.”

“Huh. Well, you’d be the break-in expert. Drive past it, park about a block away. We’ll give it a few minutes. Better it’s closed,” she said half to herself. “No need to go in, stir anybody up. ‘Hey, just checking for explosives.’ No media reports to scare him off.”

He cruised by the restaurant.

“And if he hasn’t already planted it?”

“I come back in the morning.”

“We come back in the morning,” he corrected, and slid along the curb.

“I can pull in a boomer for it.”

“We come back,” he repeated. “And again, no doubt, sometime before thirteen hundred.”

No point in nudging him back, she thought. And no good reason. “I’ll have men placed, soft clothes, in the restaurant, the other restaurants, the shops, on the street an hour prior. I’ll need more to cover the roofs, just in case. We’ll check if any single male has rented any of the residential or commercial spaces with a view of the target. Say in the last six months. Longer than that doesn’t make sense, even for him.”

“I agree there. While he must have considerable funds, they aren’t unlimited. He risks the whole operation if he squanders what he has.”

“You’d also be the expert on money, but I’d already gotten to that one. Let’s take a walk. Wait.”

She pulled out her signaling ’link. “It’s Abernathy. Dallas,” she said.

“We have Pierce in custody. I have to say, it was remarkably easy.”

“Good work. I’ve got a few questions I’d like you to work into your interview.”

His face, his voice, radiated haughty. “I believe we know how to conduct an interview, Lieutenant.”

“I’m not questioning that, Abernathy, but we’ve got some movement onthis end. It’s doubtful Pierce knows anything that could apply here, but I don’t want to assume. I’ll send you the questions.”

“Very well, since I appreciate the tip on Pierce. Now I’m going to get a few hours of sleep before we escort Pierce back to London. It’s been one brute of a day.”

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